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Activists dressed as sea turtles at the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Photo Credit: seaturtules.org
Ten years ago, the word “globalization” was made a household term. On November 30th, 1999, tens of thousands of people shook the streets of Seattle, Washington, in protest of the World Trade Organization. The WTO symbolized the corporate takeover of human needs and the environment.
On this edition, we revisit the voices from that week. And, we find out how global economic forces have shifted in the past decade.
Featuring:
Gopal Dayaneni, organizer with Movement Generation; Mohau Pheko, representative of the Africa Trade Network at the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting; Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute; Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and Wealth for the Common Good.
For More Information:
Focus on the Global South - Bangkok, Thailand
Inequality and the Common Good – Boston, MA
Institute for Policy Studies – Washington, DC
International Forum on Globalization – San Francisco, CA
Jubilee USA Network – Washington, DC
Movement Generation – Oakland, CA
Oakland Institute – Oakland, CA
Ruckus Society – Oakland, CA
United for a Fair Economy – Boston, MA
Wealth for the Common Good - Boston, MA
Books and Films:
Five Days That Shook the World: The Battle for Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair and Allan Sekula
The Battle in Seattle – The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations
By Janet Thomas
This is What Democracy Looks Like (film)
Music:
Tags: activism, economy, environment, globalization and trade
This is a great program about a complicated, world economic movement. Ten years later, it’s clear: The WTO doesn’t work for the people. It is a voracious corporate entity that seeks dominance over the local, the earth-based, the community and people-oriented agricultural methods. Ten years after the “Battle in Seattle” It is the movements of the people that still survive, while the WTO is a moribund organization. The beauty of this is that the people can stand up to the corporations and make the changes that honor the Earth. Communities can determine how to grow their own crops, what crops to grow and how to trade them. There is a living hope that emerges after ten long years.
Great to look back at this important event and think about new and old activist strategies in the age of cap & trade and catastrophic climate destabilization.